Oil combustion apparatus



y 1966 HARURO SUMA 3,251,395

OIL COMBUSTION APPARATUS Filed May 22, 1964 3 Sheets-Sheet l I f 5% F/as Im/enor Har b u-o Sauna B MMW/M7AJQ ATTORNEYS May 17, 1966 HARURO SUMA OIL COMBUSTION APPARATUS 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 22, 1964 lnvemgor Hara e Sdmd B JMMMMWM ATTORNEYS May 17, 1966 HARURO SUMA OIL COMBUSTION APPARATUS 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed May 22, 1964 FIG. 5

In vem or HA 7'' PO Same ATTORNEYS United States Patent Office Patented May 17, 1966 3,251,395 OIL COMBUSTION APPARATUS Haruro Suma, Kadoma-shi, Japan, assignor to Matushita Electric Industrial (10., Ltd., Osaka, Japan, a corporation of Japan Filed May 22, 1964, Ser. No. 369,413

Claims priority, application Japan, May 25, 1963,

8 Claims. (Cl. 158-94) The present invention relates to oil combustion apparatus and more particularly to those of multi-wick-type in which a multiplicity of wick guide tubes spaced apart a small distance from one another are vertically annularly disposed between a fire tray in the combustion section and a reservoir containing therein fuel oil or kerosene, and wicks are arranged to be moved upwardly and downwardly in the wick guide tubes.

The primary object of the invention is to provide an oil combustion apparatus in which the manipulation of a single wick operating knob, to cause the .upwardmovement of main wicks, simultaneously causes the upward movement of an auxiliary wick for ignition purpose and closes a switch of an ignition heater to ignite the auxiliary wick so that a pilot flame burning on the auxiliary wick can spread to the main wicks, and in which the release of grasping force on the wick operating knob causes the downward movement of the auxiliary wick into a tube to extinguish the flame on the auxiliary wick with the main wicks remaining in a position suitably protruded on the fire tray for continuing combustion by the main wicks, whereby ignition and combustion can positively be efiected by the manipulation of the single wick operating knob.

Another object of the invention is to provide an oil combustion apparatus in which two ignition units of substann tially the same structure are provided so that the igniting operation described above can simultaneously take place at two places by means of a link mechanism operative in response to the manipulation of the single wick operating knob, whereby to quickly attain the spread of fire all over the annularly disposed main wicks in 'a short time, to shorten the time required from ignition to complete combustion and to prevent generation of an oflensive smell due to incomplete combustion of oil.

Still another object of the invention is to provide an oil combustion apparatus in which means are provided to adjust the vertical position of the auxiliary wick which is urged upwardly and downwardly simultaneously with the main wicks by the manipulation of the single wick operating knob, whereby the position of the auxiliary wick relative to the ignition heater can freely be varied to maintain an optimum condition for ignition to thereby insure unfailing ignition at all times. According to the inven tion, an arrangement is such that the main wicks are urged upwardly to an optimum position for combustion by the manipulation of the wick operating knob, and further manipulation of the knob causes the upward movement of the auxiliary wick together with the further upward movement of the main wicks and permits conduction of current to the ignition heater for bringing forth the combustion. When, however, the grasping force on the wick operating knob is released after ignition takes place, the main wicks may be urged abruptly downwardly beyond the optimum position for combustion and the burning flames may be extinguished. Therefore, a further object of the invention is to provide an oil combustion apparatus in which means are provided so that, when the grasping force on the knob is released, the main wicks move downwardly to the optimum position for combustion to maintain a satisfactory combustion condition at all times.

Various other objects and advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the general external appearance of an oil combustion apparatus embodying the invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged plan view of a combustion section provided in the oil combustion apparatus of FIG. 1, with a chimney, a reflecting plate, a guard member and the like removed and a switch means of an ignition heater broken away to show the internal structure;

FIG. 3 shows the combustion section equipped in the oil combustion apparatus of the present invention, partly in section, viewed in the direction of the arrows III-111- of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged schematic perspective view of a vertical feed mechanism for main wicks provided in the oil combustion apparatus;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged top plan view of one form of a linkage for simultaneously effecting ignition at two spots in the oil combustion apparatus; and

FIG. 6 is an enlarged plan view of a modification of the linkage of FIG. 5.

The invention will now be explained with reference to the accompanying drawings. At first referring to FIG. 1, there is shown a perspective external view of an oil combustion apparatus of the invent-ion which comprises a main fuel reservoir 1 containing kerosene therein and having an oil gauge 2 and an oil filling port 3 provided thereon. Centrally of the apparatus, there is provided an oil combustion section which is covered by a cover memher 4, and a cylindrical chimney 5 is placed on the combustion section. On the rear side of the combustion section, there is provided a reflecting plate 6 for reflecting the v heat of combustion in the forward direction. A guard member 7 is swin-gably hinged to an upper part of the reflecting plate 6 and depends downwardly in front of the combustion section to provide protection against possible injury to human bodies. Further, a handle 8 is fitted to the upper part of the reflecting plate 6 to provide means of carrying the combustion apparatus, and support legs 9 are fitted to the bottom of the fuel reservoir 1 to support the combustion apparatus on a base plate 10.

Hereinunder, detailed description will be given with regard to the combustion section and ignition mechanism with reference to FIGS. 2, 3 and 4. A chamber 11 is detachably fitted in a central opening formed in the main fuel reservoir 1 in oil-tight relation to the central opening and consists of a cover member 12 and a chamber body 13. A plurality of perforations are annularly bored through both of the upper wall of the cover member 12 and the bottom wall of the chamber body 13 in opposedly aligned relation to each other and the perforations in each annular row are spaced a small circumferential distance therebetween. The purpose of provision of the chamber 11 is to effectively prevent a great amount of fuel from instantaneously flowing out of the main fuel reservoir 1 as when the oil combustion apparatus is unintentionally upset, and thus any possibility of spoiling floors and cansing fires can be minimized. An operating mechanism enclosure 14 is fixed on the central portion of the cover member 12 of the chamber 11 and a manual operating shaft 15 is suitably passed through the operating mechanism enclosure 14 and has on its inner end a pin 16 passing therethrough. The pin 16 is firmly held in place by a retainer 17. A link plate 19 is loosely mounted on the operating shaft 15 at a position between the pin 16 and the operating mechanism enclosure 14 and is provided with an abutment 18 for engagement with one end of the pin 16. A helical spring 20 is also mounted on the operating shaft 15 between the pin 16 and the operating mechanism enclosure 14 and has one end thereof fixed to the link plate 19, while the other end fixed to the cover member 12 of the chamber 11. The other end of the operating shaft 15. or the end opposite to the end carrying the pin 16 thereon extends through a supporting plate 21 provided on the cover member 12 of the chamber 11 and knob 22 is mounted thereon. The knob 22 projects forwardly through the cover member 4 covering the combustion section.

On the operating shaft within the operating mechanism enclosure 14, there are mounted a pinion 2 3 and a brake member 24 of substantially U-s-haped structure surrounding the pinion 2 3 between parallel side plates thereof. The brake member 24 is loosely mounted on the operating shaft 15 in eccentric relation thereto and is freely rotatable thereabout. An engaging lug 25 is provided on the top of the web portion of the brake member 24 and a lower portion of one of the side plates of the brake member 24 protrudes outwardly from the operating mecha nism enclosure 14 to form an abutment 26 for engagement with a portion of the link plate 19. A rack plate 27 of frame-like structure is vertically disposed between the side plates of the brake member 24 for meshing engagement with the pinion 23. One of vertical side edges of the rack plate 27 is guided by a guide plate 23a vertically disposed in the operating mechanism enclosure 14. The guide plate 23a is linked to the operating mechanism enclosure 14 and is not secured to the cover member 12. The other vertical side edge of the rack plate 27 is spaced a slight distance from the engaging lug 25 because the brake member 24 loosely mounted on the shaft 15 in eccentric relation thereto tends to rotate thereabout by its own weight to thereby urge the engaging lug 25 away from the side edge of the rack plate 27. Therefore, rotation of the pinion 23 by the rotation of the operating shaft 15 causes vertical movement of the rack plate 27 which is guided by the guide plate 28a.

A wick operating member 28 of fiat disc-like shape is mounted on the lower end of the rack plate 27 within the fuel chamber 11 and is provided with a plurality of perforations bored in aligned relation to those of the cover member 12 and the chamber body 13. A wick guide tube 29 of small diameter has its lower end inserted in each of the perforations formed in the cover member 12 of the chamber 11 and flared laterally outwardly for being firmly secured t-hereat. An outer sleeve 30 is coaxially fitted on each wick guide tube 29. The upper ends of the outer sleeves 30 extend slightly above the upper ends of the associated wick guide tubes 29 disposed thereinside and are flared laterally outwardly so as to hold between their end edges a plate 31 of doughnut-like shape. A fire tray 32 of annular trough-like structure is supported on the plate 3.1 to surround between its upstanding annular walls the upper openings of the wick guide tubes 29. A substantially disc-like heat shield 33 is suitably fitted to intermediate portions of the outer sleeves 30 of the wick guide tubes 29 to provide heat shielding means between the combustion section and the cover member 12 of the chamber 11 to thereby prevent any temperature rise in the fuel oil in the fuel reservoir 1 due to heat of combustion in the combustion section. A plurality of cutouts 34 are suitably formed at the outer peripheral edge of the heat shield 33. There is provided a cylindrical wind shield 35 having an inside diameter approximately equal to the outside diameter of the heat shield 33 and has portions of its lower end edge cut open and bent inwardly to form a plurality of lugs 36 which correspond in number and positions with the cutouts 34 of the heat shield 33. The cylindrical wind shield 35 is fitted on the heat shield 34 in a manner that the lugs 36 of the former fit in the corresponding cutouts 34 of the latter and the :wind shield 35 is slightly turned in a predetermined direction to detachably fix the wind shield 35 to the heat shield 33. The wind shield 35 so fixed will effectively interrupt the wind blowing into the combustion section from outside so that combustion can be made without being affected by external wind.

Wicks 37 are formed of cotton threads or the like which are twisted into a rod-like form and are supported in a plurality of wick supporting tubes 38. The wick supporting tubes 38 are fixed at their lower ends in the perforations formed in the wick operating member 28. The upper end of each wick supporting tube 38 extends into the aligned wick guide tube 29, and thus the tips of the wicks 37 appear and disappear from the fire tray 32 as the Wick supporting tubes 38 move upwardly and downwardly in the wick guide tubes 29. Lower ends of the wicks 37 extend downwardly through the chamber 11 and perforations formed in the bottom thereof into the main fuel reservoir 1 and are immersed in the fuel oil contained therein.

An ignition ring 39, which may be made of glass fibers or the like, is disposed in the fire tray 32 so as to cont-act all of the wicks 37 at their elevated position for receiving the supply of fuel from the wicks 37. A flame extinguishing tube 4% extends upwardly from the cover member 12 of the chamber 11 at a position intermediate between two arbitrarily elected wick guide tubes 29 and terminates at a position approximately halfway of the vertical distance between the cover member 12 and the fire tray 32. An auxiliary wick 42 for ignition purpose is supported in a tube 41 which is accommodated in the flame extinguishing tube 49 for vertical movement therein. Therefore, the tip of the auxiliary wick 42 appears and disappears from the upper opening of the flame extinguishing tube by the vertical movement of the wick supporting tube 41. The supporting tube 41 is externally threaded at a portion 43 lying within the chamber 11 and a nut 45 having an integral tongue 44 is in threaded engagement with the threaded portion 43 of the supporting tube 41. A helical spring 46 is coiled about the supporting tube 41 between the nut 45 and the inner face of the cover member 12 in order to normally urge the supporting tube 41 downwardly so that the auxiliary wick 42 is always retracted into the fiame extinguishing tube 40. An L- shaped guide plate 47 is fixed to the inner faceof the cover member 12 of the chamber 11 in a manner that its depending portion is disposed in parallel with the supporting tube 41. The depending portion of the guide plate 47 is provided with a longitudinal slot (not shown) through which the tongue 44 of the nut 45 extends for guiding the vertical movement of the supporting tube 41. The vertical position of the auxiliary wick 42 can suitably be adjusted by rotating the supporting tube 41 to thereby vary the position of the nut 45 relative to the tube 41. A cutout 48 is formed in the wick operating member 28 at a position opposite the supporting tube 41, and thus the wick operating member 28 and the supporting tube 41 are interrelated with each other by the cutout 48 and the nut 45. Thus, when the wick operating member 28 moves upwardly, the nut 45 is engaged by the cutout 48 and the supporting tube 41 is also made to move upwardly. The lower portion of the auxiliary wick 42 extends through the reservoir 11 into the main reservoir 1 and is immersed in the fuel oil therein as in the case of the main wicks 37.

A substantially U-shaped member 49 is directly mounted for free swinging movement on one of the wick guide tubes 29 positioned adjacent the auxiliary wick 42 in a manner that the guide tube 29 penetrates parallel side plates of the swinging member 49. The upper side plate of the swinging member 49 makes sliding contact with the lower face of the plate 31 and acts as a cover 51 to normally close an ignition aperture formed in the fire tray 32 and the plate 31 at a position opposite the tip portion of the flame extinguishing tube 4% hence the tip portion of the auxiliary wick 42. A connecting rod 52 is loosely mounted at one end 56 in the swinging member 49 to operatively connect the same with the link plate 19 rotation of the operating shaft 15 can rotate the swinging member 49 by way of the connecting rod 52 to thereby open the normally closed aperture 50.

A heater supporting member 53 is suitably mounted on the cover member 12 so as to support an ignition heater 54 for the auxiliary wick 42 at a position above the flame extinguishing tube 40. Contact strips 55 for the ignition heater 54 are fitted to a portion of the heater supporting member 53 in electrically insulated relation thereto and are normally kept open. When, however, the connecting rod 52 is advanced by the rotation of the operating shaft 15, the pivotal end 56 of the connecting rod 52 engaging in the swinging member 49 urges one of the contact strips 55 towards the other to cause flow of current to the ignition heater 54. Thus, it will be understood that, by the mere rotation of the operating shaft 15, the conduction of current to the ignition heater 54, opening of the aperture 50 :and upward movement of the auxiliary wick 42 can simultaneously be effected. A jack 57 for supplying electrical power to the ignition heater 54 is suitably provided, from which lead wires 58 are connected to the ignition heater 54 and the contact strips 55 so that, when the chamber 11- is mounted in the main fuel reservoir 1, a plug (not shown) provided on the main reservoir 1 may be fitted in the jack 57 for connection thereof with a power source.

It is so arranged that the operating shaft 15 can freely rotate until the pin 16 abuts the abutment 18 formed on the link plate 19, and the wicks 37 suitably protrude above the fire tray 32 for proper combustion at such position of the pin 16 in which it engages the abutment 18. Further rotation of the operating shaft 15 causes the pivotal movei ment of the link plate 19 against the force of the spring 20 since the pin 16 urges the abutment 13 hence the link plate 19.

In the foregoing, description has been made with regard to the case of only one ignition unit including the ignition heater 54, contact strips 55, supporting tube 41, flame extinguishing tube 40, swinging member 49, aperture 50 and cutout 48, but such unit may be provided at two places instead of one. Two ignition unit arrangement may take the forms as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, in which the connecting rod 52 is fitted to the link plate 19 and the swinging members 49 disposed at two places are interconnected by the connecting rod 52. In the arrangement shown in FIG. 5, the connecting rod 52 is loosely fitted intermediate its length in the link plate 19. Therefore, rotation of the operating shaft 15 causes advancing movement of one portion of the connecting rod 52 and retracting movement of the other port-ion thereof, and the swinging members 49 in the ignition units swing in the opposite directions to each other. In the arrangement shown in FIG. 6, there are two connecting rods 52 which operate in an entirely same manner. Therefore, both of the ignition units take entirely the same form. It will therefore be understood that there is virtually no change in the form of the ignition unit even when it is provided at two places, and two ignition unit arrangement can easily be effected by merely changing the manner of connection of the connecting rod 52 with the link plate 19. In this ar rangement, ignition can simultaneously take place at two places by mere rotation of the single operating shaft 15.

Needless to say, such two ignition unit arrangement is very advantageous in that ignition can be attained without fail with one of the ignition units even in the event of failure of the other ignition unit. In the arrangement with single ignition unit, a considerable time is required until a flame on an ignited wick successively spreads over all of the wicks, and it is in the orderof 40 to 60 seconds in case of fresh wicks and 2 minutes in case of wicks with tarry depositions thereon. Therefore, during the spread of fire all over the wicks, gas generated by incomplete combustion of kerosene gives out an offensive smell which is quite unpleasant. In the case of simultaneous ignition 6 at two positions, fire will spread all over the wicks in about one-half of the time required in the case of ignition at a single position, and it is apparent that the two ignition unit arrangement shortens the time required from ignition to complete combustion, minimizes the time of incomplete combustion and thus attains very advantageous combustion.

Hereinunder, description will be given with regard to the manner of operating the oil combustion apparatus of the pressent invention. When, at first, the knob 22 is turned to rotate the operating shaft 15 until the pin 16 abuts the abutment 18 formed on the link plate 19, the

pinion 23 is rotated to cause the upward movement of the rack plate 27 in meshing engagement with the pinion 23. The upward movement of the rack plate 27 causes upward movement of the wick operating member 28 fixed thereto, and the wick supporting tubes 38 move upwardly within the wick guide tubes 29 so that the tip portions of the wicks 37 are exposed above the fire tray 32 by an amount suitable for proper combustion. rotation of the knob 22, the pin 16 urges the abutment 18 to cause pivotal movement of the link plate 19 against the force of the spring 20 to thereby urge the connecting rod 52. Therefore, the swinging member 49 is made to swing about the wick guide tube 29 on which it is mounted and the cover portion 51 of the member 49 closing the aperture 50 is moved away from the aperture 50 to open the same.

Simultaneously with the opening of the aperture 50, the pivotal end 56 of the connecting rod 52 fitted in the swinging member 49 urges one of the contact strips 55 towards the other to close the circuit of the ignition heater 54. By this time, the auxiliary wick 42 has been exposed above the top end of the flame extinguishing tube 40 since the upward movement of the wick operating member 28 has caused its cutout 48 to engage the nut 45 to urge the auxiliary Wick supporting tube 41 upwardly against the force of the spring 46. Therefore, the auxiliary wick 42 can be ignited by the ignition heater 54. In the upward movement, the auxiliary wick 42 can be accurately guided because the tongue 44 of the nut 45 is engaged in the longitudinal slot of the guide plate 47.

The pilot flame on the auxiliary wick 42 ignites the ignition ring 39 through the opened aperture 50. The flame on the ignition ring 39 successively spreads to the main wicks 37 for combustion of oil thereon. In case fire is set on the ignition ring 39 at two positions thereon by the use of the link plate 19 and the connecting rod 52 as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, fire can quickly spread over the entire ignitionring 39 and the main wicks 37 can be ignited in a short time, this arrangement reducing the time required from ignition to complete combustion.

After a long time use, the auxiliary wick 42 for ignition purpose may be consumed, and in some cases, may be replaced. This will result in a variation in the ignition characteristic and it is necessary to suitably adjust the relative positions of the auxiliary wick 42 and the ignition heater 54 to obtain the best ignition characteristic. The relative distance between the auxiliary wick 42 and the ignition heater 54 can easily be adjusted by rotating the supporting tube 41 to vary the position of the nut 45 to thereby obtain the best ignition characteristic desired.

After the auxiliary wick 42 is ignited, the grasping force on the knob 22 is released and the link plate 19 snaps back to the original position by the action of the helical spring 20. The swinging member 49 operatively connected to the link plate 19 also swings back to the original position to close the aperture 50 with its cover portion 51. The closure of the aperture '50 prevents abnormal combustion due to flow of air therethrough during combustion. The operating shaft 15 is urged to the normal operative position by the abutment 18 formed on the link plate 19 and the wicks 47 are burning under the normally exposed condition. On the other hand, the nut 45 on the auxiliary wick supporting tube 41 is By further disengaged from the wick operating member 28 due to the downward movement of the latter. Therefore, the auxiliary wick 42 is retracted downwardly to the original position within the flame extinguishing tube 40 and flame can thus be extinguished. The flame on the main wicks 37 can be extinguished by merely rotating the knob 22 in the direction opposite to that of ignition. In this case, the knob 22 can freely be rotated because there is no engagement between the pin 16 and the abutment 18 and the tip portions of the main wicks 37 can be retracted downwardly below the fire tray 32 to extinguish the flame.

For the purpose of unmistakable and convenient manipulation of the knob 22 on the operating shaft 15 for ignition and flame extinguishing as described above, an indication such as arrows may be provided on the front panel of the cover member 4, through which the knob 22 protrudes forwardly, to indicate that the clockwise rotation is for ignition and the counter clockwise rotation is for flame extinguishing. It will be apparent that this manner of indication provides very advantageous handling of the combustion apparatus.

When the grasping force on the knob 22 is released after ignition has taken place on the ignition ring 39, the operating shaft 15 is rotated by the action of the spring 3% in the direction to urge the main Wicks 37 downwardly. In this case, the rack plate 27 may be caused to move abruptly downwardly by the pinion 23 mounted on the operating shaft 15 and, as a result thereof, the main wicks 37 may possibly be forced downwardly more than required. Such excessive downward movement of the main wicks 37 is effectively prevented by the unique arrangement of the invention. Or more precisely, the engaging .lug 25 on the brake member 24 normally tends to move away from the rack plate 27 since the brake member 24 is mounted on the operating shaft 15 in eccentric relation thereto. When, under this situation, the link plate 19 is made to abruptly rotate to urge the abutment 26 of the brake member 24 downwardly, the brake member 24 is caused to rotate and its engaging lug 25 engages the side edge of the rack plate 27 to brake the unnecessary downward movement of the rack plate 27. Therefore, when the grasping force on the knob 22 is released after ignition, the auxiliary wick 42 is solely retracted into the flame extinguishing tube 40, but the main wicks 37 would not be retracted into the wick guide tubes 29 and protrude a suflicient length above the fire tray 32 for proper combustion.

For replenishing the fuel oil into the fuel reservoir 1, a plug of the filling port 3 may be removed and fuel oil or kerosene may be filled therein by means such as a pump. An amount of oil in the reservoir 1 is indicated by the oil gauge 2 and fuel oil may suitably be supplied depending on the reading of the oil gauge 2.

From the foregoing detailed explanation, it will be understood that, in the oil combustion apparatus of the present invention, mere manipulation of the knob 22 mounted on the single operating shaft 15 for the vertical movement of the wicks can ignite the auxiliary wick 42 for obtaining a pilot flame, which successively spreads all over the main wicks 37 to effect complete combustion. Thus, manipulation of the single operating shaft 15 can attain the vertical movement of the main wicks 37 and ignition thereof, and release of the grasping force on the operating shaft 15 after the ignition causes the auxiliary wick 42 to be retracted into the flame extinguishing tube 40 to extinguish the flame thereon, with the main wicks 37 remaining in their suitably projected position for proper combustion. Thus, rnere manipulation of the operating shaft 15 insures completely smooth operation from ignition to combustion, and thus the handling of the combustion apparatus can be rendered extremely convenient and easy.

According to the arrangement of the invention, special parts are not required to effect the vertical movement of the auxiliary wick 42 since it is supported in the supporting tube 41 having the nut 45 thereon and the tube 41 is moved upwardly and downwardly by the wick operating member 28 which acts to cause the vertical movement of the main wicks 37. Moreover, by virtue of the manner of mounting of the auxiliary wick supporting tube 41 with relation to the nut 45, the relative distance between the auxiliary wick 42 and the ignition heater 54 can freely be adjusted to obtain at all times the optimum positional relation therebetween for complete combustion. A further effect obtained by the arrangement of the invention is that the auxiliary wick 42 is not exposed to the outside and the external appearance of the combustion apparatus is not spoiled at all because the elements for causing vertical movement of the auxiliary wick 42 are entirely concealed within the chamber 11.

According to the invention, closure of the contacts of the ignition heater 54 for igniting the auxiliary Wick 42 and swinging movement of the swinging member 49 for transferring the pilot flame 011 the auxiliary wick 42 to the main wicks 37 can simultaneously be efliected in interengaged relation with the upward movement of the auxiliary wick 42 for igniting purpose. Those operations can simultaneously be attained by the linkage which operates in response to the manipulation of the operating shaft 15. It will thus be understood that, by virtue of the linkage, every operation can be positively carried out with an added advantage of the compact arrangement.

Another prominent effect of the invention resides in that, when the grasping force on the operating shaft 15 is released after ignition takes place on the main wicks 37, the abutment 26 on the brake member 24 is urged downwardly by the link plate 19 to apply a braking action to the rack plate 27 with its engaging lug 25 to thereby prevent the main wicks 37 from going excessively downwardly more than required. Therefore, flames on the ignited wicks 37 would not be extinguished, and thus ignition and combustion can positively be effected without requiring any troublesome procedure.

Further, according to the arrangement of the invention, thecylindrical wind shield 35 is detachably fitted on the heat shield 33 in a manner that the lugs 36 provided on the wind shield 35 are fitted in the cutouts 34 formed in the heat shield 33 and then the wind shield 35 is suitably rotated on the heat shield 33 for engagement therewith. This arrangement extremely simplifies the mounting and dismounting of the wind shield 35 and ensures freedom from abnormal combustion due to instably burning flames caused by external wind blowing into the combustion section. Thus, the cylindrical wind shield 35 is effective to eliminate any influence by external wind and the like to ensure normal combustion at all times.

Further, the ignition unit can extremely easily be provided at two places. Such two ignition unit arrangement is quite advantageous in that simultaneous ignition can be started at two positions and fire can spread very rapidly all over the main wicks compared with the one ignition unit arrangement. It is apparent that the two ignition unit arrangement shortens the time from ignition to complete combustion.

In the foregoing description, the invention has been described in detail with regard to its preferred embodiment, but it will be understood that the invention is in no way limited to such specific embodiment and various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the claims as defined hereinunder.

What is claimed is:

1. An oil combustion apparatus comprising a plurality of wick guide tubes, a plurality of main wicks inserted, for vertical movement, in said wick guide tubes, a wick operating member operatively connected to position the tip portions of said main wicks with respect to a fire tray placed at the upper ends of the wick guide tubes, an

auxiliary wick which is selectively exposed in interengaging relation with the upward and downward movement of said main wicks, at the position of the upper end of the flame extinguisher pipe disposed between two adjacent tubes of any said wick guide tubes, a swinging member having a cover portion formed thereon for opening and closing an aperture provided in the fire tray at a position opposite to said auxiliary wick, a link member connecting said swinging member with said wick operating member so as to cause swinging movement of said swinging member during the upward movement of said main wicks, and an ignition heater member having a plurality of contacts, said contacts being closed during the swinging movement of said swinging member thereby igniting said auxiliary wick at the flame extinguishing tube.

2. An oil combustion apparatus comprising a plurality of wick guide tubes, a plurality of main wicks inserted,v

for vertical movement, in said wick guide tubes, a wick operating member operatively connected to position the tip portions of said main wicks in relation to a fire tray placed at the upper ends of the wick guide tubes, an auxiliary wick which is positioned, in interengaging relation with the upward and downward movement of said main wicks, at the position of the upper end of the flame extinguisher pipe disposed between two adjacent tubes of any said wick guide tubes, a swinging member having a cover portion' formed thereon for opening and closing an aperture provided in the fire tray at a position opposite to said auxiliary wick, a link member connecting said swinging member with said wick operating member so as to cause swinging movement of said swinging member during the upward movement of said main wicks, and an ignition heater member having a plurality of contacts which are closed during the swinging movement of said swinging member to ignite said auxiliary wick protruding upwardly from the flame extinguishing tube, an ignition unit consisting of said auxiliary wick, flame extinguishing tube, swinging member and ignition heater suitably disposed at two places and said two ignition units being arranged to be simultaneously operated by means of a linkage by the manipulation of said wick operating member.

3. An oil combustion apparatus comprising a plurality of wick supporting tubes, a plurality of main wicks each supported in a wick supporting tube, a plurality of wick guide tubes each receiving therein one wick supporting tube, a wick operating member connected with said wick supporting tubes and being vertically movable to bring the tip portions of said main wicks upwardly to a position exposed above a fire tray disposed at the upper ends of said wick guide tubes for combustion and downwardly to a position retracted into said wick guide tubes, a flame extinguishing tube disposed between any two adjacent wick supporting tubes, an auxiliary wick, and a supporting tube for supporting therein said auxiliary wick and externally threaded for mounting'thereon a nut in screw threaded engagement therewith, said auxiliary wick supporting tube being vertically movable to urge the tip portion of said auxiliary wick upwardly to a position exposed above said flame extinguishing tube and downwardly to a position retracted into said flame extinguishing tube, said upward movement of said auxiliary wick supporting tube being effected in interengaging relation with the' upward movement of said main wicks by the engagement of said wick operating member with said nut on said supporting tube during the upward movement of said Wick operating member.

4. An oil combustion apparatus comprising a plurality of wick supporting tubes, a plurality of main Wicks each supported in a wick supporting tube each of which is inserted for vertical movement in each of a plurality of wick guide tubes, a wick operating member connected with said wick supporting tubes, a wick operating shaft arranged for rotation for causing vertical movement of a rack plate fixedly attached to said wick operating member to thereby urge the tip portions of said main wicks upwardly to a position exposed above a fire tray disposed at the upper ends of said wick guide tubes and downwardly to a position retracted into said wick guide tubes,

an auxiliary wick for ignition purpose inserted for vertical movement in a flame extinguishing tube disposed between any two adjacent wick guide tubes, a rack plate connected to said wick-operating member, said auxiliary wick being urged upwardly to a position exposed above the flame extinguishing tube and downwardly to a position retracted into the flame extinguishing tube in interengaging relation with the upward and downward movement of said main wicks, a swinging member swingably supported by one of said wick guide tubes disposed adjacent' the flame extinguishing tube and having a cover portion formed thereon for opening and closing an aperture provided in the fire tray at a position opposite said auxiliary wick, a linkage operatively connecting said swinging member with said operating shaft so as to cause swinging movement of said swinging member during the upward movement of said main wicks caused by the rotation of said operating shaft, and a brake member loosely mounted on said operating shaft in eccentric relation thereto in a manner to surround said rack plate, said brake'member having an engaging lug disposed opposite one. side edge of said rack plate and having a portion projected outwardly to form an abutment, so that, during the rotation of said operating shaft to cause the downward movement of said main wicks, a portion of said linkage engages the abutment of said brake member to cause pressure engagement of the engaging lug of said brake member with the side edge of said rack plate.

. 5. An oil combustion apparatus comprising plurality of wick guide tubes, a plurality of main wicks inserted for vertical movement in said plurality of wick guide tubes, a wick operating shaft arranged for rotation for urging the tip portions of said main wicks upwardly to a position exposed above a fire tray disposed at the upper ends of the wick guide tubes and downwardly to a position re-- tracted into the wick guide tubes, an ignition ring disposed within the fire tray for contact with said main Wicks when said main wicks protrude from the fire tray, an auxiliary wick inserted-tor vertical movement in a flame extinguishing tube disposed between any two adjacent wick guide tubes, said auxiliary wick being urged upwar'd ly to a position exposed above the flame-extinguishing tube and downwardly to a position retracted into the flame extinguishing tube in interengaging relation with the upward and downward movement of said main wicks, a swinging member swingably supported at a position adjacent the flame extinguishing tube and having a cover portion formed thereon for openingand closing an aperture provided in the fire tray at a position opposite said auxiliary wick, a linkage oper-atively connecting said swinging member with said operating shaft so as to cause swinging movement of said swinging member during the upward movement of said main wicks, and an ignition heater having a plurality of'contacts, said contacts being closed during the swinging movement of said swinging member for igniting said auxiliary wick protruding upwardly from the flame extinguishing tube, whereby a pilot flame on said auxiliary wick ignited by said ignition heater can ignite said ignition ring through the aperture in the fire tray and thence spread over all of said main wicks for combustion.

6. An oil combustion apparatus comprising a main fuel oil reservoir, a chamber disposed centrally of said main reservoir, a plurality of main wick guide tubes annularly disposed on the upper face of said chamber and extending upwardly therefrom, a fire tray disposed in a manner that the upper ends of said main wick guide tubes tenninate therein, a plurality .of main wick supporting tubes each supporting therein a main wick immersed in said main reservoir and each received in said main wick guide tube for vertical movement therein so that the tip portions of the main wicks can be urged upwardly from within said chamber to a position exposed above said fire tray and downwardly to a position within said chamber, a wick operating member disposed within said chamber and. having the lower ends of said main wick supporting tubes fixed thereto, a rack plate disposed in the central aperture of said chamber for free vertical movement therein and having said wick operating member fixed to the lower end thereof, a pinion disposed above the upper face of said chamber for meshing engagement with said rack plate for causing vertical movement thereof, an operating shaft having said pinion mounted thereon and having a knob at one end thereof for causing vertical movement of said rack plate by the rotation of the knob, a brake member loosely mounted on said operating shaft in a manner to surround said rack plate and said pinion, said brake member having an engaging lug provided thereon in opposed I relation to one side edge of said rack plate and having one end portion extended to form an abutment, a link plate loosely mounted on said operating shaft on the side adjacent said pinion and having an abutment integrally formed thereon, a pin mounted in the end of said operating shaft for engagement with said abutment on said link plate, a spring for normally urging said link plate in a direction to cause the downward movement of the main wicks, a flame extinguishing tube disposed between any two adjacent wick guide tubes and extending upwardly from the upper face of said chamber, a supporting tube for supporting therein an auxiliary wick immersed in said main reservoir and inserted in said flame extinguishing tube for vertical movement therein so that the tip portion of the auxiliary wick can be urged upwardly from within said chamber to a position exposed above said flame extinguishing tube and downwardly to a position retracted into said flame extinguishing tube, said auxiliary Wick supporting tube being provided with a threaded portion on its outer periphery, a nut having an integral tongue formed thereon and in screw threaded engagement with the threaded portion of said auxiliary wick supporting tube, said nut being engaged by said wick operating member during the upward movement of said wick operating member, a spring mounted on said auxiliary wick supporting tube between said nut and the upper inside face of said chamber for normally urging said auxiliary wick supporting tube downwardly, a guide plate having a slot for receiving therein the tongue of said nut for guiding the vertical movement of said auxiliary wick supporting tube, a swinging member swingably mounted on one of said main wick guide tubes disposed adjacent said flame extinguishing tube and having a cover portion formed thereon for opening and closing an aperture provided in said fire tray at a position opposite the upper opening of said flame extinguishing tube, a connecting rod operatively connecting said swinging member with said link plate, an ignition heater disposed opposite the tip portion of the auxiliary wick for igniting the same, contact strips urged to a closed position by a connection between said swinging member and said connecting rod during the swinging movement of said swinging member to complete the circuit of said ignition heater, a heat shield supported by said main wick guide tubes at a position intermediate between said fire tray and said chamber, and a cylindrical wind shield detachably mounted on said heat shield for preventing any abnormal combustion caused by external wind blowing into the combustion section.

7. An oil combustion apparatus comprising a plurality of wick guide tubes inserted into 'and extending upwardly from a tank, a fire tray having the top edges of said wick guide tubes attached about the surface thereof, a plurality of main wicks, each of which is inserted into one of said guide tubes so that the tips of the main wicks may appear on and disappear from the face of said fire tray, an operating shaft operable through a driving means for driving each wick simultaneously upwards and downwards, a flame extinguishing tube inserted into and extending upwardly from said tank and disposed between a pair of wick guide tubes, an auxiliary wick inserted in said flame-extinguishing tube to selectively protrude therefrom in accordance with the upwards and downwards movement of the main wicks, a swingable member pivotally attached to a wick guide tube disposed adjacent to said flame-extinguishing tube and having a cover portion for opening and closing an aperture provided in the fire tray at a portion opposite to the open end of said flameextinguishing tube, a link mechanism for coupling the swinging member with said operating shaft so as to cause the swinging movement of said swinging member at the time of manipulation of said operating shaft to move the main wicks upwards, and an igniting heater for igniting said auxiliary wick projecting from said flameextinguishing tube by its contacts being closed due to the swinging movement of the swinging member.

8. An oil combustion apparatus comprising a plurality of wick guide tubes inserted and extending upwardly from a tank, a fire tray having the top edges of said wick guide tubes fixedly attached about the surface thereof, a plurality of main wicks each of which is inserted in one of said guide tubes so that the tips of the main wicks may selectively protrude from said fire tray, an operating shaft operatively connected to move each wick simultaneously upwards and downwards, a flame extinguishing tube inserted into and extending upwardly from said tank and disposed between a pair of wick guide tubes, an auxiliary wick tube inserted in said flame-extinguishing tube and disappearing into said flame extinguishing tube in accordance with the upwards and downwards movement of the main wicks, a swinging member pivotally attached to a wick guide tube disposed adjacent said fiame-extin guishing tube and having a cover portion for opening and closing an aperture provided in the fire tray at a portion opposite to the open end of said flame-extinguishing tube, a link mechanism coupling said swinging member with said operating shaft to coordinate the swinging movement of said swinging member with the manipulation of said operating shaft to move the main wicks upwards, and an igniting heater for igniting said auxiliary wick projecting from said flame-extinguishing tube by its contacts being closed due to the swinging movement of the swinging member, said auxiliary wick, said flame extinguishing tube, said swinging member and the igniting heater constituting an igniting unit, at least two igniting units being provided in each said apparatus, said two igniting units being so arranged to be actuated simultaneous through said link mechanism by manipulation of the operating shaft.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1/1903 Lind et al 3179l 7/1957 Konstandt 158-88 FREDERICK KETTERER, Primary Examiner. 

2. AN OIL COMBUSTION APPARATUS COMPRISING A PLURALITY OF WICK GUIDE TUBES, A PLURALITY OF MAIN WICKS INSERTED, FOR VERTICAL MOVEMENT, IN SAID WICK GUIDE TUBES, A WICK OPERATING MEMBER OPERATIVELY CONNECTED TO POSITION THE TIP PORTIONS OF SAID MAIN WICKS IN RELATION TO A FIRE TRAY PLACED AT THE UPPER ENDS OF THE WICK GUIDE TUBES, AN AUXILIARY WICK WHICH IS POSITIONED, IN INTERENGAGING RELATION WITH THE UPWARD AND DOWNWARD MOVEMENT OF SAID MAIN WICKS, AT THE POSITION OF THE UPPER END OF THE FRAME EXTINGUISHER PIPE DISPOSED BETWEEN TWO ADJACENT TUBES OF ANY SAID WICK GUIDE TUBES, A SWINGING MEMBER HAVING A COVER PORTION FORMED THEREON FOR OPENING AND CLOSING AN APERTURE PROVIDED IN THE FIRE TRAY AT A POSITION OPPOSITE TO SAID AUXILIARY WICK, A LINK MEMBER CONNECTING SAID SWINGING MEMBER WITH SAID WICK OPERATING MEMBER SO AS TO CAUSE SWINGING MOVEMENT OF SAID SWINGING MEMBER DURING THE UPWARD MOEMENT OF SAID MAIN WICKS, AND AN IGNITION HEATER MEMBER HAVING A PLURALITY OF CONTACTS WHICH ARE CLOSED DURING THE SWINGING MOVEMENT OF SAID SWINGING MOVEMENT TO IGNITE SAID AUXILIARY WICK PROTRUDING UPWARDLY FROM THE FLAME EXTINGUISHING TUBE, AN IGNITION UNIT CONSISTING OF SAID AUXILIARY WICK, FLAME EXTINGUISHING TUBE, SWINGING MEMBER AND IGNITION HEATER SUITABLY DISPOSED AT TWO PLACES AND SAID TWO IGNITION UNITS BEING ARRANGED TO BE SIMULTANEOUSLY OPERATED BY MEANS OF A LINKAGE BY THE MANIPULATION OF SAID WICK OPERATING MEMBER. 